Man convicted in tourist slaying to serve life

TALLAHASSEE (AP) -- A man convicted for his role in the 1993 killing of a British tourist has been sentenced to life in prison for committing another crime within three years of his prison release.

Florida's released prisoner reoffender law required Circuit Judge Janet Ferris to sentence Deron Spear, 24, to life in prison Wednesday after he was found guilty of holding up a grocery store.

Spear was convicted last year on two counts of armed robbery with a firearm during the July 1999 holdup.

Ferris allowed Spear to speak with his mother and two younger brothers before being taken away. He then smiled and waved as deputies led him in shackles out of the courtroom.

Spear, his brother Cedric ''C.C.'' Green, 21, and Isaac Wilson, 20, were arrested after several heists at Winn-Dixie grocery stores. The men were charged with stealing thousands of dollars during four raids in Tallahassee and two in Panama City.

Prior to the heists, Spear, Green, John Crumitie and Aundra Akins were convicted in the robbery and shooting death of tourist Gary Colley at an Interstate 10 rest stop in Jefferson County, 35 miles east of Tallahassee.

Spear, who drove the getaway car, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and accessory charges and was sentenced to eight years in state prison but was released after two.

Green, who was placed in a juvenile program for seven months, is scheduled to be sentenced in the convenience store robbery Friday. Crumitie and Akins, accused of firing the shots that killed Colley, remain in prison serving life sentences.

Spear's lawyer, Charles Hobbs, told his mother that Spear would never be freed short of a new law, a successful appeal for a new trial or clemency.